The text introduces the issue of branch churches in the context of parish system and functioning in medieval Moravia. The Czech literature has often depicted the medieval parish system on Czech territories as a structure divided into two clearly defi ned and explicitly varying groups: parish churches and branch churches. Yet different sources contain a more complex picture of branch churches as being a deeply diverse group in which there are both churches of marginal signifi cance and temples not considerably differing from parish churches in terms of their status and function. The author presents several instances illustrating the position of branch churches in the parish system in medieval Moravia as well as reasons for changes in the status of churches and ways in which these changes were introduced.